A/N

Hey! Oh my gosh! I am so sorry for the late update! Both of my computers broke and I haven't been able to find a working one until today :P Sorry again about that...

Anyways, I'm almost positive that you are not interested in my lame excuses... So ON WITH THE STORY!

CH: 2

"Polite, gentle, humble..."

Sokka had stopped listening after "Polite". Toph had been anything... everything but. She had been rude, fun, funny, rough, and cocky to the extreme. Sokka still couldn't believe that she was gone. Gone... what a terrible word. Gone... But he couldn't stop thinking it...

Gone...

Gone...

Gone...

"The support beams are gone!" Toph grunted with effort as she held up the top of the mine. "They've collapsed!"

Sokka swore under his breath. Twenty feet. Just twenty feet from the exit a wounded miner knocked over a wooden beam and had sent the whole place crumbling. Some of the healthier miners had dashed out, leaving their unfortunate co-workers with Sokka and Toph. The worst part? Toph couldn't help Sokka get the wounded miners out. When the mine had started to collapse she'd only had enough time to stick her arms up and catch the ceilling. No bending.

"How long do you think you can hold it?" The warrior asked urgently, gathering up the miners.

"Not... long..." beads of sweat trickled down the Earthbender's face. Her milkey green eyes were squeezed shut tight as she strained to hold the mine. Her bare arms shook (she had cast her shirt off at the entrance after declairing the mine too hot and went in with only her pants and tank top). "Get... the miners... out..."

Sokka didn't have to be told twice. And, surprisingly, it wasn't hard at all. After all, the exit was only twenty feet away...

After making sure all eight miners were accounted for, Sokka slipped back into the entrance. Toph didn't look good. Her breath came in ragged gasps and she seemed to be weakening. He quickened his pace.

"Run!" Toph suddenly cried. Sokka ran. Toward her.

"Toph!" The Water Tribe warrior pushed on the top of the mine in an effort to help her support it. "Don't worry! I'm here!"

"Sokka..." she grunted, "you... idiot... I meant... for you to... run... away... from me!"

Sokka stared at her, stunned. "Wha- But-"

"Shh!" She cut him off. "Get... out of here... Snoozles..."

"No, Toph! I'm not leaving you!"

"Sokka... don't be... stupid... I'll be... fine..."

Sokka didn't move. Then suddenly, the earth beneath his feat shifted. Toph had slid her foot sharply, pushing him toward the mine enterance. Then, disaster...

Toph's legs gave out, the mine forced her to her knees. Her face tilted up, her porcelain features frozen in fear.

"Toph!" Sokka cried in horror.

The blind girl's face suddenly relaxed into a somewhat peacefull expression, but the fear was still in her eyes. "Sokka... Stay... Everything's... gonna be... fine..."

But it wasn't fine. Sokka spent hours trying to dig her out. He worked until his fingers bled and his nails broke. He worked like a madman, desperately trying to free her. His efforts bore nothing but the earthy green uniform top that Toph had disgarded near the inside of the entrance. Still, Sokka dug. He dug until a hand on his shoulder forced him to stop.

"Sokka," Katara said gently. "I need your help. Some of these people need medicine and a doctor. I can't move them alone."

The warrior stared blankly at his sister. "But... Toph... She's still in there! I- I have to get her hout!" He went back to scrabbling at the earth.

Katara pulled him away again, her expression pained. She looked him in the eyes and said slowly, sadly, "Sokka, it's been three hours. Toph would have gotten out by now if..." She glanced down, her own eyes filling with tears.

Sokka shook his head, his grip tightening on the earthy green shirt. He didn't want to admit it, but deep down he knew she was right...

And now here he was. At a funeral he never thought he would attend. Numb with grief. Her last moments running through his head over and over again. Clutching her shirt tightly in his hands...

"Such a proper young lady-"

At that point, Sokka had had enough. He stood, marched up to the podium, pushed aside the eulogy man that Toph's parents had hired, and glared at the black clad crowd.

"Toph Bei Fong," he started, "was none of those things. She wasn't polite, or gentle, or humble, and she certainly wasn't a 'proper young lady'. She was rude, crass, testy, cocky, and behaved a lot like sand in your pants- which is to say that she loved teasing and tormenting and getting on people's nerves. She hated flying and would punch the people who dared to upset her... and the people she loved. Now I don't know how any of you feel or what you think, but as for me, I don't want to remember Toph as 'sweet' and 'innocent' because that's not who she was! I want to remember her as a strong, bold, comfident woman who always spoke before she thought and never gave a horse-monkey's tail about what anyone's opinion of her was! She was fun, funny, a great scammer, and my best friend..."

Sokka trailed off. An unexpected sight met his eyes. Every single audience member was crying. Even the Boulder and Hippo. Sokka noted that his own cheeks were wet, and he sniffed as he wiped his tears away.

"You forgot 'Amazingly Awesome'!" a voice piped up. A dirty, frizzled, grinning figure emerged from behind a pillar. "Now if you don't mind, Snoozles... I'm going to need my shirt back."

A/N: So Toph didn't die after all! Isn't that great?

...

...

That is great... right? I don't know! Tell me if it was good!

... Please?

lol, well, anyways, here is chapter two! Read, Review, All that jazz, and I shall do my very best to post the last chapter soon (which may or may not include Toph's version of being in the mine. I shall not say!).

Disclaimer: If I owned Avatar: The Last Airbender- 1) The pairings would be slightly different *couch*Tokka*cough* 2) I probably wouldn't be writing fanfics about them...

Until I write again!
IM